Its fitted with 130mm Rev coil u turns on the front, minion HR on the front, advantage on the rear. SLX brakes. Most of gear bought of STW classifieds.

I have to say when its pointing downwards I am very impressed, really stable ride, feel like you can hit a lot of the rough stuff at speed with confidence without getting bounced all over the bit. I dont do any big drops but the bike as a whole doesn’t feel as harsh as any hardtail I’ve ridden (as a mere mortal that is).

Its a bit of a lump to climb with but then again I am the wrong side of 18′ so what does that matter 🙂

I thought it was 853?

anyway – sounds good, I still love my 1st gen 520 PA, but would love to try the more svelte version… can anyone advise if it’s more compliant than the standard model?

its a bit of a lump to climb
Strange… mine positively romps up hills. Fantastic on the downs with a <cough>mm fork on the front too! Or is it because mine`s a 520;)

My 520 also climbs well. I have a 1×9 set up and did Glentress red followed by Innerleithen red with no problems at all yesterday.

Maybes its me thats the lump, and yes its an 853 – must take more time whilst writing.

Anyway I think I will be keeping it for a while. 🙂

Did you have an Alpine before?

Did you have an Alpine before?

Nope, why do you ask?

I was reading a review by a Scot now living in Canada and wondered if it was you! was just gonna ask how they compared.

I love my 853, had it 3 years now